A Facebook Like saved my life!

Unless you have some overdeveloped need for constant affirmation and approval, the “Like” button on Facebook is mostly pretty useless. So one of your Facebook friends “Likes” your latest status update. Whoop de do. It won’t make a jot of difference to you or to your day.

But now, thanks to a magical new vest invented by some folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), having someone press your Like button could be a very big deal indeed. It could mean the difference between life and death. But only if they press your Facebook Like button at precisely the right time, when your need is most, err, pressing.

The magical new vest is known as the Like-A-Hug.

It’s a large blue or black vest (it’s hard to tell from the video what the exact colour is: it’s said to be black but it looks more blue to me) that gives you a great big fluffy bear hug every time one of your friends Likes your work on Facebook.

OK, so it’s not actually a hug. It is, as the name suggests, kind-of sort-of like a hug. What actually happens is that the internet-enabled vest automatically inflates upon receipt of a Like message, gently squeezing you to remind you that somewhere in the world, someone out there likes you. Loves you, even. (If only Facebook had that button.)

Having felt the warm embrace of the Facebook Like, you can then pull out your smartphone from one of the jacket’s pockets, and see who it was who hugged you.

Obviously, it’s a little less than perfect in the human interaction department, and having a jacket that inflates and deflates seemingly at random times could wear a little thin after a while.

But imagine you’re driving your car one handed, and you’ve just used your iPhone to post a hilarious update on Facebook. A friend sees your posting and reaches for the Like button, just as your car drifts across the lane into the oncoming traffic. Your friend clicks Like, the jacket inflates, and your life is miraculously saved.

Of course, a family of five coming the other way is killed, but who cares about actual humans when you have Facebook to keep you company?

The Australian Financial Review

BY John Davidson

John Davidson is the award-winning sketch writer in charge
of Australia's pre-eminent (but sadly fictitious) Digital Life
Laboratories. A former computer programmer, documentary maker and
foreign correspondent, John now reviews all the gadgets he can ill
afford to own.

BY John Davidson

John Davidson is the award-winning sketch writer in charge
of Australia's pre-eminent (but sadly fictitious) Digital Life
Laboratories. A former computer programmer, documentary maker and
foreign correspondent, John now reviews all the gadgets he can ill
afford to own.